Electric control circuits



4March 20, 1945. I L RQGERS 2,372,017

ELECTRIC CONTROL CIRCUITS Qriginau Filed oct. :51, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 1 Figi. l

Inventor: Geoflge L. Rogers,

y l. .-Hi Y Attorney.

March-20, 1945. G, L, ROGERS 2,372,017

' ELECTRIC CONTROL GIRCUITS Original Filed Oct. 31, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Pigs'.

WHEN 32, 34 AND 35 1^(ARE OMITTE D. l"

Pig?. WHEN 40.43 AND 44, ARE oMrrTEa\/f pig. WHEN 45,46 AND 49 (ARE ommen. Y l

aa c a ai b y l His Attcarney Patented Mar.' 20, 1945 General Electric York Company, a corporationofNew L Original. application Octber 31', 19.411,. Serial, No.

' 417,352,.now PatentNo. 2,337,932, dated Decemf ber 28, 1943; Divided andthsapplication April.:`

14, 1'94'3, SerialN'o. 482,986

7 claims.

l invention' relates: to' electric' control circuits.

and; more particularly to' improved control circuits. ior' electric valve' systems. vision of my application Serial No: 417,352, led October' 31, 1941, Patent No. 2,337g932, dated December' 28;. 1943', entitled Electric control circuit, an'df assigned to' the assignee of this ap'- plication.

In many electric' valve control systems, it' is.'

desirable to employ' reversely' connected electric valves' for' transmitting alternating current. I f

the control membersY of a pair of reversely connected valves are to be' controlled from a `com'-A mon voltage, it is necessary to take into'consideration the alternating-current' component'l of voltage which may be impressed on the' control member of one. of'. the electric valves due to' the anode-cathode. voltage of the otherv of the' elec'- tric valves. of my invention, I provide an improved electric control circuit particularly adapted. for electric valve systems employing reversely connected'y electric valves in whichthis alternating-current' component of voltage iseliminated.

It is an object of 'my invention to provide a new and improved electric control circuit.

It is .another object of my invention to pro'- vi'de' new and improved' control circuits' for electric' valve apparatus wherein the conductivities of the electric valves may b controlled selec'- tively'in response to themagnitude of a unidirectional' control voltage.

Brieily stated', in the illustrated' embodiments of my invention I 'have' shown my .inventionl as` applied to a system for controlling the phase" of' the' alternating voltage supplied to an output circuit from an associated' alternating current supply circuit. The phase shifting circuit' com-- prises a plurality of `electrically displaced phase windings each having connected thereto variable" impedance means such as a vpair of' reverselyY This is a dif In. accordance with the teachings to neutralize. the` alternating, voltage component that. would, otherwise-appear in the grid .circuit of. the other valve. .Inthismannen thedesireil.` control. or shift in phase of the output voltage to any desired.. value1-nay bev readily obtained` merely by controlling themagnitude of the unidirectional voltage applied to` al1 of the excitationcircuts..l

Eor. abetter-understanding of myinvention,

reference may be. had .to the yfollowing description. tak'en. in connection. with the accompanying.l drawings, and its. scope willv be-pointed-out.

. in theI appended claims.v Fig.. l of thedrawings.

illustrates. my invention. as. applied to a phase f shifting arrangement for'controllingthephase off. the4 voltage applied: toa single phase outputV or load. circuitbfrom. a polyphase alternating currentsupply circuit. Fig. 2 represents. an as-- pect of the control. circuit shown-in Fig. '1.r Fig.

3- represents certain. operating characteristics` relativev to'.A the control ofthe respectivepairs of electric-discharge devices shown in Fig. l. Figs. 4 6' and 8 represent indetailportions' of' the respective-excitation circuits. 'connected tothe three" groups of.y electric' discharge devices.y shown in Fig.. 11;' and" Figs. `5", 7 andi Q'represent certain op-' connected electric valves` or electric discharge 1 devices, the conductivities of which are selec` age appliedtth'ereto. in order'tocontrol selectively the conductivities; of the respectiveapairsa' of' discharge devices; Meansl energized from the anode-cathode circuit of one of the reversely connected electric. valves and connected 'to the grid of the other valve of eachpa-ir is provided tion circuits shown in' Figs. 4, 6 and" 8, respecj-"fy tively. 10 -represents a complete arrangement wherein the excitation circuits are shown connected to the' phase shiftingarrangement of Referring now to the arrangement shown'. in Fig; 1, I have there illustrated my invention as appliedto a'phase shiftingv circuit for controlling the phase of lthevoltageapplied to an output circuit lA 4which may includeja transformery. The' phase shiftingcircuit may be energized from a polyphase alternating' current supply circuit 3 ,and includes a plurality off n, electricallydis-- placed phase windings.,v Although. not. limited thereto,.'I have illustrated; my invention as applied tot a. system which iserrgized. from a three phase. alternating. current: supply circuit and 4in Whichthe electrically. displaced/windings: are provided. by ai transformer 4- having a plurality of primary windings and a plurality ofv elec'- trically displaced `secondary or phase windings 6, 'I and 8 having 'an electrically intermediate or neutral connection 9V which is connected t one-.terminal of the. outputcircuit.` f

The. phase shifting ycircuit also'. includes a plurality ot variable impedance.- means such asv n pai-rs ci revers'ely connectedv electric discharge.

devices III, II; I2, I3; I4, I5 which are connected to phase windings 6, 'I and 8, respectively. Electric discharge devices III-I5, inclusive, are preferably of the high vacuum type each including an anode I6, a cathode I1 and a control member or grid I8. `The grids I8v of the discharge devices are connected to excitation circuits described in detail hereinafter and which are represented in Fig. 1 as comprising circuits 3" 1 made throughout another I9, 20 and 2|. It will be noted that thecommon junctures of the respective pairs of electric discharge devices are connected to one ter-` minal of the load or output circuit I.

I connect between the excitation circuits I9, 20 and 2I and the respective associated pairs of elec.-

tric discharge devices transformers v22, 23 and 24" to control the conductivities of these dischargev electrical degreesdevices so that the pairs operate as an equivalent variable resistance in response to the variations in the grid voltages applied thereto. It will be` noted that each of the discharge devices in the respective pairs is connected `reversely, that is, having the anode of one connected to the cathode of the other, in order to transmit both half cycles of alternating current of the respective associated phase windings. Transformers 278-24 are preferably arranged to have a 1:1 ratio, thereby serving to maintain the grid and cathode oi electric discharge devices III, I2 and I4 at the same p0- tential so that only the unidirectional excitation is effective. In this manner, the alternating cornponent of voltage due to the vconnection tothe anode-cathode circuit is effectively neutralized so far as each of-the gridlcontrol or excitation circuits is concerned. Fig. 2, represents a portion of the circuit shown in Fig. 1 in which `the aspects of the neutralization, by using the transformer connections of this nature, are more succinctly represented. It will be noted that the secondary winding 25 is connected across the grids I8 of electric discharge devices III and II, and that the primary winding 26 is connected to the common junctures of the cathodes of the discharge devices. In this manner, the alternating components of voltage which are present in the anode-cathode circuits of the pairs of'discharge devices is effectively eliminated from the grid circuits so that the discharge devices respondv precisely to the magnitude of the unidirectional voltages of the control circuits. i

The control circuits or excitation circuits ISI-2| which I provide for selectively controlling the conductivities of the discharge devices I 0-I5, inclusive, include means, specifically described hereinafter, which are selectively responsive to a unidirectional control voltage and selectively control the conductivities of the different pairs in diierent manners in response to different magnitudes of the unidirectional control voltage. I provide this type of lcontrol in order 'to vary or control the phase of the output voltage supplied to output circuit I. For example, I havefound that if the conductivity of one of the pairs of electric discharge devices, such as discharge devices I0 and II, is maintained substantiallyconstant or at a zero value, the phase of the voltage supplied to the output circuit I may be varied throughout electrical degrees by increasing the conductivities of the discharge devices I2 and I3 and decreasing the conductivities of the discharge devices Id and I5. Furthermoraby progressing this sequence type of control to other groups of electric discharge devices, the phase of the voltage supplied to the output circuit may be shifted throughout an additional electrical degrees and, lastly, by choosing another combination of discharge devices controlled in a corresponding manner, the shift in phase may be ar n electrical degree interval thereby completing the phase shift throughout the complete 211- or 360 The diagram oi Fig. 3 may be of assistance in explaining the manner in which the respective pairs of electric discharge devices shown in Fig. l. may be controlled to obtain any desired shift in phase of the voltage supplied to output circuit I. If the voltages of the excitation circuits I9, 20 and 2l be represented by the characters Ex, Ey

and Ez, respectively, and if it be assumed that thev i devices is reduced to aero by impressing thereon Y which are connected to circuits I9, 2i! and 2l, re-` spectively, of Fig. 1. These excitation circuits are energized from a common control circuit including a positive conductor 21 and a negative conductor 28, and the voltage oiwhich is represented by the character E1. These circuits are selectively responsive Vto the magnitude of thev unidirectional voltage E1 and control the magnitude of the bias voltages impressed on th'e grids I 8 of the respective associated pairs of electric discharge devices.

Considering Fig. 4, I there provide an arrangement in which the voltage applied to circuit I9 varies in the manner indicated by the solid curve A of Fig. 5. It will be noted that the bias voltage Ex increases to a negative maximum value upon increase of voltage El to a predetermined value, and that the bias voltage remains substantially constant through a second region or range until the voltage E1 attains a second predetermined value, and that the bias voltage progressively decreases in magnitude upon further increase of E1 beyond the second predetermined value. a

In order to obtain' this type of control, Iprovide in Fig. 4 a circuit including a voltage divider comprising a pair of serially connected resistances 29 and 30 having a common juncture 3! which is connected to one conductor of circuit I9. To impress on circuit I9 a voltage which is zero when E1 is zero and which progressively and linearly increases in magnitude until E1 attains a predetermined value, I provide resistances 32 and 33 in series relation connected between the negative conductor 28 and one terminal of circuit I9. As the voltage El increases, a proportionate voltsecond range of1E1.

2,379,011 aglisoansniiaectc circuit is". 'rheicomporient of "voltage soi transmitte'dis determined, of course, ley-'the ratio of" resi'stanc'es 2'9"` and 30; I have ,foundy thatlth'ese resistances may, if desired; be made equal so'that oneehalf thev voltage E`1= is available -for' the control of the circuitI I9. To maintain the voltagel of circuit I'9- substantially constant for the 'second' rangeof voltage E1, I employ a source/of referencevoltage; such asf a battery 34' and a unidirectional conducting- 'de-` vice 35, which are oppositely pol'ed' and connecteditotransmitcurrent throughresistances'BO and 32 when'- thel voltage appearing across' resistance 3U. attains' alvalue' corresponding to the rst" pre'- determined valu'eofi E1.v Throughout' thelsecond rangey of' E1, the unidirectional` conductingdevice 35?. transmits current through resistances- 30' and 32 to'maintain the voltage transmitted to'circuit ISE ata.substantially` constant-value. 'I provide a second' source of reference voltage, 'such' as` ai. battery 36.- and' unidirection a1 conducting dev-ice- 3J?, which: are oppositely' pole'd and connected in series' relation: between the positive'conductor' 2.1 andthe resistance y33@y to decrease progressively the magnitude ofY theA bias'A voltage'- when E1 increases in 'magnitude'. beyondri the second predetermined; value. 1

'Itv WillY be understoodsthat. the operating.' char."- acteristics shoWninFig., 5'- represent'. theI theoretical shape'of thc-.curvef'whch would b'eobtained y byl assuming: that not' voltage.l appears across the unidirectional conducting' devices', 'Howevem inasmuch as'l thel devices'necessitate the; impresssione of a predetermined: voltage` thereacross; 'it

will be appreciatedthat thecurvea actually when linearlvdue.: tcrl the;` risef in voitage` across: resistance Upon attainingaa. predeterminedva-lue and for voltages within a predetermined range above that'. value;V the` voltagel'drop'racross: resistance 3B is sufiicient'to .overcome theivolta'ge; of battery'ill',4 causing currentito iloxvfin: a' circuitsincluding. battery 34, device-'35;. resistance4 30:. and resistance 32: They voltage drop 'appearing across; resistance 3-2 is suiicient, to neutralize or counteract the rise in: voltage1 appearing across resistance 30 occasionedrbyA increase.` of voltage E1, thereby` maintaining. the voltage,4V suppliedi to circuit |9- substantiallyconstant'ithroughout a When thevoltage. of E1 in creases yto afsecond` predetermined;value',.causing. unidirectional: conducting' device: 3:1v tov conduct current, the magnitude. off the voltage. trans@- mittedto circuit i9. isy progressively decreased; During this'. region: ofi' operation'currentvis' conducted byubatteryfS', derice'.` 31', and Vre'sistanccs e-rsed, inthe reverse direction.-

Control circuit i 20 shown'lin detaii in; Fig; '6i is constructed tof-producey a" voltage the characteristic: of` curve 'Be in. Fig;V 7i. Irr this-arrangement I, provide: a; source; ofivoltage; suchv as abattery4 3B-l and resistancesv 3%) and` 40: which transmit a voltage: of predeterniined` value. to'

circuitwhen the value WE1-'is zero an'diwhich progressiveIy'decreases-'the magnitude ofthe volt age supplie'dito circuit 2 for 'increase' of E1 within the rst'- range of E1v by the transmission offcurrent through-rsistances 391 and' When'Ei attains the' predetermined' val'ue', the voltage supplied to' circuit 20is reduced toi zero iandrupon' a further increase-y ot' voltage ofEi yinto the second` range- Ifprovlde' a unidirectional conducting device 4i` and a:V source-.L ofreference'vpotential,

such-'asl al battery 42;. which conductv greater amounts of current. through'sresistance 391:0: ini crease progressively' the Am'agnitu'de'oi thebias voltage Ey; until' the voltage E1 attains' a second predieterx'nine'df:Y value. i As a. meansffor- 'limiting' themagnitude `ofythe' voltage` supplied to circuit 2n upon increase ofEr beyond' the. second'pre` determined value, connect.v across .circuitta unidirectional conducting device' 43'andf'a source off reference voltage.- such as a -battery'lltI l The-voltagexEyfmay bemadeto have thechar'- acteristic" shown'. by the' dotted line Within the third region; or range of'. operation. by omitting resistance 40; .unidirectional conducting. device-'43 anda'thesource offvoltage 44. i i

.Thezcircuitmi' Fig.. 8 produces anfoutput-characteristicfcorresponding to'l curve C oirFig. 9. In this arrangement'the voltage applied to circuit 2.!

is maintained substantially constant throughoutr the first. range' orEr brmeans'ofia source of. voltaga' 4:5; andk resistancessli and 41. WhenrE1 at-y tains' ai.. pred'eterrninedi` value;t .the magnitude: yof the biasivoltage' supplied: to f circuitl 21" isl progres-f sive'lyf decreased' throughout a second predeter-L mined` range' of Er 'by means of a source of reference vvoltage 48: ,andf unidirectional conducting device 6%: which` complete: a. circuit' through-rev sisianceeA Mir.l and: source.` 45; When E1. attains: a second; predetermined: value, the voltage' supplied to circuit 2t is: then progressively increased in magnitude: by. the provision oi a source offreference voltage 5B' anda unidirectional' conducting device: 5l.- whichf. are; 'connected in the manner shown from. one terminal` ofk circuit'Z-I `to the negativez conductor 218; `Throughoutthis third mentioned range when the voltage E1; attains-y or exceeds; the lsecond:predetermined va'1ue,'.thefvo1t age supplied' toi thev circuitlli is progressively in..-

creased-due to the,- flowof. current 'through device liandsourcef.: Y f l f The voltage Ezmay' be made to.v have thef'chare acteri'stic: indicated by' the dotted'line Within the first ranges' of 'vintage'J Erba omitting source 45, resistamce 4G andi .unidirectional Vconducting device 49.

Although: notv limited tcc. the particular' range otl' applied.v voltages and' output voltages', Ia have foundz'thatl the:` circuits'shown. in"V Figs. 4i 6 and-'8 i operate very satisfactorily' when' the. respective elements.' have: the: following .v'a1ues:

Efrange from zero to' 30jvo1ts. E;9.'=I5 'volts VQIS' Efej=`Ei=1oi vous' v -f Resistance 29'=resi'stance"3` y v y g llilgev 10': shows-.the circuit? of Fig. 1' in; combina? tioni.witlrtheexcitationtcircuits of Figs. 4; Gand 8.as connected to the respective.'associatedipairs ofi electric: discharge devicesdin orderto obtain the:v `variation. in:` conductivities. representedby thec'curvesiof Fig. 3in response-to variations. -in magnitudexof the voltage 'EL As` the voltageE1 progressively increases. from zeroto the; first. pre- 'determined-value; that is in .the rst, frange, discharge devices I4 and I5 are maintained nonthe conductivities of electric discharge devices I2 and I3 are progressively decreased, and the conductivities'of discharge devices I4 and I5 are progressively increased. Throughout the third range, discharge devices I2 and I3 are `maintained nonconducting and the conductivities of` devices I4 and I5 are progressively decreased and Vthe conductivities of discharge devices I and II are progressively increased to provide anadditional 120 degree shift in phase. In this manner, the phase of the4 voltage impressed on the r output circuit may be smoothly controlled throughout three consecutive or adjacent 120 electrical degree intervals, and the phaseV displacement of the output voltage may bev accurately controlled or determined by the magnitude of the voltage E1 which is impressed on all three of the excitation circuits. Upon decrease in the magnitude of voltage Ei, the output voltage is shifted in the opposite direction.

While I have -shown and described my invention as applied to a particular system of connections and as embodying various devices diagrammatically shown, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modiiications may be made without departing from my invention, and I, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modiiications as fall Within the true spirit and scope of my invention. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:'

l. In combination, an alternating current circuit, a pair of reversely connected electric discharge devices connected in series relation with said circuit and each comprising an anode, a cathode and a grid, a, direct current control circuit connected between the cathode and the grid of one of said discharge devices, and means responsive to the voltage appearing between the anode and cathode of said one discharge device and, including a single winding interconnecting the grid of said one discharge device and the grid of the other discharge device for neutralizing the alternating componentof voltage which would otherwise be present lin the grid circuit of the other discharge device- 2. In combination, an alternating current circuit, a pair of reversely connected electric discharge devices connected in series relation with said circuit and each comprising an anode, a cathode and a grid, a direct current control circuit connected between the cathode and grid oi one of said discharge devices, and means for neutralizing the alternating component of volt-.- age impressed on the grid of the other discharge device comprising a transformer having a pri-- mary winding connected between the cathodes of said discharge devices and having asingle secondary. winding connected between the grids'of said discharge devices. j

3. In combination, an alternating current circuit, a pair of reversely' connected electric discharge devices connected in series relation with said circuit and each comprising an anode, a cathode and a grid, a direct `current control circuit connected to the cathode and grid of one cf said discharge devices, and means for maintaining the cathode and grid of the other discharge device at the same potential by neutralizing the alternating component of voltage derived from said alternating current circuit comprising a transformer having a primary winding connected across said cathodes and having a single secondary winding connected between said grids so that the voltage or said direct current circuit ci fectively controls both of said discharge devices in the same degree.

4. In combination, an alternating-current circuit, asecond circuit, a pair of reversely connected electric valves connected between said circuits, each of said valves including an anode, a cathode, and a control member, means connecting the cathode oi' one of said valves directly with one terminal of said second circuit, a source of unidirectional control voltage, means for impressing said control voltage on the control member of one of said valves, and means including a single inductive winding interconnecting the control members of said valves for impressing said unidirectional voltage on the control member of the other of said valves and for neutralizing the alternating-current component of voltage which would otherwise be impressed on the control member of said other valve due to the anodecathode voltage of said one valve.

5. In combination, an alternating-current circuit, a-second circuit, a pair' of reversely connected electric valves-of the high vacuum type connected between said circuits, each of said valves including an anode, a cathode, and a control grid, means connecting the cathode of one of said valves directly with one terminal'of said second circuit, a transformer having a primary winding interconnecting the cathodes of said valves, a source of unidirectional control voltage, means for impressing said control voltage directly on the grid ofV one of said valves, and means including a single secondary winding ofA said transformer interconnecting the grids of said valves for impressing said unidirectional voltage on the control member of the other of said valves and for neutralizing the alternating-current component` of voltage which would otherwise be irnpressed on the control member of said other valve due to the anode-cathode voltage .of said one valve; i

6. In combination, a polyphase alternating-I current supply circuit, a load circuit, a pair oi reversely connected electric valves connected between'each phase of said supply circuit and said load circuit, each of said electric valves including an anode, a cathode,` and a control member; means connecting the cathode of one valve of each of said pairs to one terminal of said load circuit, means for impressing a unidirectional voltage directly on the control member of said one of each of said pairs of valves, and means connecting the control member of the other one of each of said pairs of valves to the control member of said one valve of the same pair and in cluding a single .winding for neutralizing the alternating-current component of voltage due to' said supply circuit in the control member circuit of said other electric valve.

7. In combination, a polyphase alternating` current supply circuit, a load circuit, a pair' of reversely connected electric valves connected between each phase of said supply circuit'and said load circuit, each of said electric valves including an anode, a cathode, and a control member, means connecting the cathode of one valve of each of said pairs tovone terminal of said load circuit, a plurality of sources of unidirectional voltage each independently variable, means for impressing the voltage of a diierent one of said sources on the control member of said-one of each of said pairs of valves, and means vconnecting the control member of the other valve of each of said pairs of valves to the control member of said one valve of the same pair and including means for neutralizing the alternating-current compo- GEORGE L. ROGERS. 

